


you don't have to save me (but would you run away with me)

by starlightdaydreams



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, F/M, High School AU, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Misogyny, Polyamory, Sexual Harassment, heavy T, i wrote this in a feral mood, melodramatic hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22186138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightdaydreams/pseuds/starlightdaydreams
Summary: To her surprise, Gundham actually pulled her in for a tight hug, her tears wet against his scarf.  "You're above all of them. They're scum, pathetic mortals, and you're....you're a princess! No, a queen. A Dark Queen. Someone wise and compassionate, but could curse and hex her enemies if she wanted to. They're intimidated by you."
Relationships: Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham, Sonia Nevermind/Soda Kazuichi, Sonia Nevermind/Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham, Sonia Nevermind/Tanaka Gundham
Comments: 5
Kudos: 167





	you don't have to save me (but would you run away with me)

_I think he's the most attractive person in the universe._ Sonia's pencil flew as she tried to make a rough sketch of Gundham Tanaka. She wanted to capture everything, the heaviness of his dark black coat, the intimidating look in his grey and red eyes....and was that a hamster in his scarf? That was what she liked about him - that he didn't give a damn about what anyone else thought of him.

"Sonia, could you please read the next paragraph?" The teacher asked. 

"Mhm." She found the right page in _Pride and Prejudice._ "I-in vain I have.." She stopped as she heard the giggles around her at the sound of her accent. "...have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed." She noticed Gundham was staring at her and they made awkward eye contact as she read. "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." 

Chiaki Nanami, her friend who lived an hour away, was the only one who knew about her crush on Gundham. She had sent Sonia a text that said _He sounds cute! Go 4 it! :3_

As the bell rang, she went to the bathroom to fix her hair. _I'll try talking to him today at lunch._

Of course, she saw the graffiti on the bathroom as soon as she walked in, reading **Sonia Nevermind has syphilis** in big letters in permanent marker. And a thought ran through her head, that she thought a hundred times a day. 

_What did I do to deserve to be treated this way?_

_Well, I'm not going to let them get the better of me today._ Usually, Sonia ate lunch in the library, but today she went to the cafeteria, where she found Gundham sitting alone at a corner table. 

Gundham looked up from his book. "Can I help you?" 

"I was..uh...wondering if I could sit here? She noticed Gundham feeding his hamsters under the table. "I like your hamsters! They're very cute."   
  
"Ah....they're the Dark Devas of Destruction." Gundham's face started to turn bright red. "But I suppose they are...cute. You can sit here, if you want." 

"What book are you reading?" Sonia asked as she opened her lunchbox. 

"Beginner Guide to Witchcraft." Gundham showed her the cover of the book, and it was the first time she had ever seen him smile. "OK, so what I really like about this book is the part when..."

_I could listen to him talk for hours._

\----------------------------

"I don't know, guys....I think this might not be such a good idea." Kazuichi peered over shoulders of some of the other guys in his grade. _Well, they are my friends....not really. More like they're friends and I'm their errand boy._ They were currently creating a list "ranking" all the girls at their high school.

"Sonia Nevermind. Dead last." _Actually, I don't know if this is a ranking list as much as they just want to humiliate Sonia specifically...._

"What do you think she'll do when she sees this everywhere? Maybe she'll cry! That was so funny, last time.." 

"You know....I don't think Sonia is really all that bad." Kazuichi muttered. She was certainly very pretty, with long blonde hair, and crystal blue eyes. And her accent just made her cuter! He still didn't know why she was their favorite target. 

"Well, she's crazy. And a slut." One of his friends laughed. "Hey, Sonia!" 

Sonia took off her headphones, and looked up from the book she was reading. _Does that book have a pentagram on it?_

"Kazuichi over here thinks you're a total ten!" 

"I...wait...no..." 

"Go on, Kaz, ask your little crush to prom!"   
  
Sonia gave him the iciest stare he ever could have imagined. _Oh my God, she thinks I'm in on this. She thinks I'm trying to embarrass her._  
  
"Go fuck yourself." She said, and then packed up her things and left. 

_Shit._

\-----------------------------

"I'm sorry.....I didn't want you to see me like this." Sonia tried in vain to wipe away her tears.

The past few weeks had felt like a dream come true to Sonia. She and Gundham ate lunch together every day, and hung out whenever they could. Just....today had been especially hard for her. She had hoped to keep Gundham and the rest of her life as two separate worlds. But he had to have noticed, today. The voices, the whispers that followed her everywhere. The whispers of _slut, hoe, crazy, bitch....._ and of course, _oh look sonia's found another little freak to date her. no, who would ever want to date that thing? _ _just her being here is the reason this school sucks...._

"Sonia, this doesn't change anything. I know you're a strong, excellent, amazing, person. It doesn't matter what they say." To her surprise, Gundham actually pulled her in for a tight hug, her tears wet against his scarf. "You're above all of them. They're scum, pathetic mortals, and you're....you're a princess! No, a queen. A Dark Queen. Someone wise and compassionate, but could curse and hex her enemies if she wanted to. They're intimidated by you."

".....intimidated? By me?"   
  
"Of course. Look at you - no matter what they say or do, you might cry, but you come back the next day, beautiful as ever and holding your head up high." He lifted up her chin, and she could feel her heart pounding out of her chest. 

"You're strong too, Gundham. If I'm the Dark Queen, then you're the Dark Lord." 

Gundham half-laughed. "Have you heard the things they've said about me?"   
  
"Yes." She wished she hadn't. She could deal with her own ruined reputation, but her heart almost broke whenever she heard the whispers every time Gundham walked into the room. "And they don't matter. Not to me." She looked up at him. "I love you." 

"I love you too." He held her close. "But you deserve a lot better than me." 

"Don't say things like that. You're wrong." She bit her lip. 

"Sonia.." His eyes swept over her short denim skirt, the sheer sleeves of her tunic. ".....you win your battles against your demons. I....do not, often." He clutched his bandaged arm, and suddenly everything clicked for her.

"Gundham, I'm...." She searched in her minds for the right words. "...we can get through it together. And it doesn't change how I feel about you. I love you so, so much." 

\-----------------------------

_Today's the day I apologize to Sonia._

"For this project, we will be working in pairs, assigned by me." The teacher announced. "Mr. Souda, you will be working with Miss Nevermind." 

"More like Sluttermind." Someone whispered next to him. 

Kazuichi moved his backpack and sat next to Sonia. "So do you wanna like, do the paper, and I'll do the poster?"  
  
"Sounds good." She looked up from her phone. Today, she seemed off, her eyes glazed and her normally brushed hair thrown back into a messy bun. 

"I wanted to apologize." _For everything. For all the times I was silent when I should have done something..._ "Look, I know it's gotta be very hard for you...." 

"...and you watched _13 reasons_ why once, and now you think you're an expert on my life, right? And you wanna be the big hero? You don't know _shit._ " He had never heard such venom in her voice. 

"Sonia, I used to be bullied too, back in middle school, so I do understand..."   
  
"I'm happy things got better for you. For me, they didn't, and I was poked and prodded and grabbed at and...just forget it. I just want to be normal. Not some little victim you want to save." 

"Let's just be normal, then. Let's just be friends." 

"....friends? With me?"  
  
"You look interesting. Like what are you always watching on your laptop during math class?"   
  
"I'm really into true crime, so I've been watching documentaries on serial killers."   
  
"That's....unique." 

From that day on, he started building a tentative friendship with both Gundham and Sonia, and found that they were possibly two of the most interesting people he had ever met. (They even made him a protection spell at one point). 

\--------------------------

_Fuck._

_Fuckfuckfuck._

"Kaz, are you sure you're okay?" Sonia asked when Kazuichi walked into her basement. He had thought concealer would be enough to cover his black eye, but apparently, it was not. "What happened....did..." Her breath caught as she tried to process the situation, and he could feel Gundham's eyes on him as well.

"Please don't tell anyone." He practically was begging, and it was beyond embarrassing for him. 

"We won't." Gundham put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But if you need a place to stay, my doors are always open."   
  
"And so are mine." Sonia said, wrapping a blanket around him. 

"Well, I don't wanna ruin your night....let's start watching!" He tried to force a smile. 

"Sure!" Sonia flipped on the TV. "So Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, is a staple of action anime, and there's a mechanic, so I'm sure you'll love it..." 

As the night went on, Kazuichi realized two things. One was that Sonia did in fact have great taste in anime. The second was that his head was on Gundham's shoulder and Sonia was running her hands through his hair, and neither of them seemed to mind, and neither did he. _Well, they're probably just this physically affectionate with all their friends._

_Dude, you cannot catch feelings for them. They're just two good friends, and they don't like you, and they're also literally dating each other. _

_\---------------------------_

"So, you're sure I'm not being a third wheel or something? Like you're absolutely sure?" 

"Kaz, I promise. We could always just go on a date without you, if we wanted to." Sonia waved her fork around. Some part of Kazuichi still felt anxious that he was intruding on their love life. 

"Yes, usually I look down upon mortals, but you appear to be the exception to that rule. Perhaps, you're not a mortal after all, but like one of us."  
  
"Ooh, he could be the Dark Knight or something...." Sonia bounced up and down in her seat. 

It was times like this that Kazuichi wasn't exactly sure where Gundham and Sonia's relationship ended and where his friendship with them began. Maybe they didn't know either. Maybe they didn't need to. All he knew was that they were the one thing he was looking forward to after a hard night at home.

He forgot the exact moment that they decided they were all dating each other, but he knew they were the best thing that had ever happened to him.

\------------------------

 _God, I get sick for two days and suddenly everything goes to shit._ Kazuichi woke up from his nap at 9p.m. to three panicked voicemails from Sonia. 

"Babe? What's up?" He called her back.

"Uhm....someone was following me around at school, and then he said some super rude shit, and then he grabbed my arm and tried to....and so Gundham punched him and broke his nose and also his jaw, I think, and so now Gundham is suspended and I need to get to his house to make sure he's ok and the school was getting me to file some papers and I...I'm sorry to bother you when you're sick..."   
  
"It's fine, it's fine, I'll be at your house in ten minutes." He grabbed his coat, and broke several speed laws on the way to her house. "Are you feeling okay?"   
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sonia had a far off look that made it seem that she was not fine, but he'd wait until she felt better to try and get her to open up. "I just want to make sure he's okay." 

"Ok, so he's not picking up his phone...." The two of them stood outside his bedroom. "Here, let's try to throw pebbles to tell him we're out here. I saw it in a movie once." 

If you had told Kazuichi Souda from six months ago that he'd be throwing pebbles at Gundham's window with Sonia, he'd have said you were crazy. 

"Gundham, you're okay!" 

"You two really could have just come to my front door."   
  
"But you love us because we're quirky." Sonia managed a giggle. 

"I wish I had been there too, I would have helped beat that douche up." Kazuichi said as they all rode in his car along the highway.   
  
"No, I wouldn't want you to get suspended as well. It just had to be done." 

They found a park, and Kazuichi pulled in, the three of them climbing on top of the car to watch the stars. 

"One day, let's run away from here, and never, ever, look back." Sonia said, more of a command than a suggestion. 

"I'm sure I could get some kinda job as a mechanic or something...."  
  
"And I'm sure plenty of people need curses or hexes placed on other people..."  
  
"....or we could go to a farm and you could take care of the animals!" Sonia suggested. "Or we could move to some faraway country and try to learn the language...."

"We'll make it. Somehow. I know we will." Kazuichi stared up at the constellations, still immortalized in spite of the infinite darkness that surrounded them. 


End file.
